Nooky and Gautam Bali Wedding

When a “pair of slippers” guided the way to the heart!

Winning hearts over a pair of slippers sounds interesting, right? Yes, this is a story of two strangers, for whom slippers played cupid! 

How they met

Nooky and Gautam met at Tangong beach club in Sentosa, Singapore on 26 June 2016. Nooky ideally from Thailand had just moved to Singapore three months before they met. Gautam was the first to initiate a conversation and it kept going for a long time. In the beginning, there was really no expectation, just two strangers trying to make new friends.

Like a true gentleman, Gautam offered to drive Nooky home after having known each other for a while.  They reached Nooky realized her slippers were missing. Without Nooky even asking, Gautam drove her back to the club to find her slippers. They finally found them in the car park. Regardless of whether or not Nooky found her slippers back that day, her heart was stolen.”

The In-between Story

It was not love at first sight, but yes, they both had a crush on each other. The first time they said ‘I Love You’ to each other was on 27 Aug 2019. They were at Celavi, a rooftop bar in Singapore. While having a conversation, Gautam suddenly said, “I almost said I love you”. And Nooky replied, “but I love you”! 

After the first meeting they both understood they loved exercising, within that week, Gautam asked nooky to go on a bike ride with him. “I love how I can be myself completely around him,”  Nooky said.

Gautam admired Nooky for being a strong and independent woman. He also found her very sweet, kind, and the humblest person he ever met. He was the happiest person when she was around. So, he thought why not be with her forever? For Nooky, she loves who he is and the fact that he always encourages her to do things out of her comfort zone (well sometimes he gets a little pushy :P) Nooky commented. Getting out of her comfort zone makes her realize how brave she is and inspires to overcome her fear. “Apart from that, he is a very honest person and he always says what he means. To me, he is the real man that I wanted to marry.” Nooky mentioned. 

The Proposal

We asked Nooky about how He proposed her to which she narrated this beautiful incident “during our trip to New Zealand on December 11, 2019, Gautam arranged a helicopter ride in Queenstown. It was supposed to land on top of a glacier but, because of the extreme weather conditions, we landed on a nearby mountain top. He quickly got down on one knee, his voice quivering with nervousness, and asked, ‘Will you marry me?’ The other passengers all started cheering. Guess what he made me do after I accepted his proposal? He made me take a leap of faith with him at AJ Hackett Bungy Nevis Swing, which goes on a 300m arc!” She laughed. 

Nooky was raised as a Buddhist but for some reason, she always felt a strong connection to Hinduism. She would always go to the Hindu temples even before she met Gautam. 

So, It was quite easy for her to be with his family and learn new things along the way.

Nooky’s mom is also very chill and she trusted her daughter’s decision. When she first met Gautam, she was impressed by his polite attitude. “We were lucky that our parents were fine with our decision even though we are not from the same culture. Everything went smooth from the beginning.” said the couple.

Gautam shared a fun fact that Nooky never thought of marrying Indian, but her biggest dream was to wear an Indian dress at her wedding. So, she had decided that whoever she was going to marry had to accept the fact that she will wear Indian attire. 

It did not take any time to convince their parents but they didn’t get married right away. They took almost 3 years to learn about each other and finally decided to get married. By that time, their parents already knew that they are serious.  Since Nooky loved Indian wedding it was pre-decided that they will have a traditional Indian wedding. They wanted to add a Thai wedding ceremony to one of the functions but realized halfway through the planning that it was a lot of work and they won’t get to enjoy. Nooky’s mother was just fine with not having a Thai wedding as long as there were proper prayers and rituals done in the Indian wedding. 

Reminiscing the initial days of venue hunting Gautam explained, “this was a hard decision as Nooky’s family is from Thailand and were not comfortable with travelling overseas. We considered Thailand as our first option. However, there was nothing exciting about the venues there. We discussed this with our parents and fortunately, they were happy to let us choose our own dream destination for the wedding. We both love Bali. Not for just the beaches, but we also love the locals, culture and holy vibe of the place. We made a list of hotels to visit and saw almost twelve properties in Bali. The minute we walked into the Conrad Bali, we knew this was the place since it checked all our preferences perfectly.” 

Gautam wanted a reception venue with big lobby and high ceilings as he believes that a lot of guests like to assemble in the lobby area to make conversation and get to know each other. Conrad’s lobby had a majestic view facing the ocean. The water garden was perfect for the wedding ceremony as it had a readymade mandap surrounded by water. The 8th-degree restaurant by the pool was a great place to host a mehndi party and the ocean garden, right by the chapel with an open lawn, was ideal for our outdoor reception. When we asked about how they managed to do the planning while working they said it’s all about teamwork. They would spend Saturdays planning the wedding and make sure to take a break on Sundays. 

Gautam and Nooky are both easy and adventurous people so they wanted all their functions to be easy and fun. Their goal was to make the guests feel comfortable by making their lives easier so that they could enjoy with the couple. Prior to the first function, they had a casual bbq on the beach as our welcome dinner. “Some guests arrived quite late that day and we know how tiring it can get. We wanted them to be able to join us. So, we booked a restaurant on the beach at Jimbaran.

Wedding Ceremonies

Mehndi

The mehndi party was by the pool. For the decor, they preferred keeping things subtle, not wanting to incorporate too many colours at the venue, which was near the beautiful Nusa Dua Beach. Nooky and Gautam matched outfits for this event. She wore a blue and white saree with floral embroidery and mirror work by Elisha Wadwah along with contrasting pink and yellow floral jewellery. Gautam arrived in with a blue kurta teamed with a white stole by Sarab Kanijou.

Sangeet

Their sangeet night was no less than an adventure. The decor, which included Egyptian elements and a red and gold colour palette, was made to reflect their travel diaries. Nooky set the stage on fire with her first-ever dance performance to a Bollywood song. She looked amazing in a pink lehenga with a floral-embroidered cape by Dolly J, accessorized beautifully with stunning statement jewellery. Gautam looked handsome in a black vest with embroidery and pink crystals, and a grey kurta by Kunal Dieu, which complemented Nooky’s outfit.

Wedding

The wedding decor incorporated tones of peach, red and white. To decorate the mandap, the couple chose bright orange and red drapes and floral garlands. Nooky was dressed in a beautiful red lehenga by Shyamal and Bhumika, which she accessorized with a green emerald and gold polki jewellery set. Gautam wore a light pink and gold sherwani by Sarab Kanijou. Nooky wanted to incorporate her culture into the wedding, hence her family and bridesmaids wore traditional Thai outfits.

Reception

The theme for the reception was ‘I love you to the moon & back’. The venue was artfully decorated with fairy lights hanging from clear tents and a giant full moon with stars as the backdrop. There was a live band playing melodious tunes that set the mood for the evening.

After Party

Growing up in the US, Gautum enjoyed many music festivals and wanted the after party to have a similar vibe. Following an ‘Electric Forest’ theme, the decor included trees, neon flowers, LED drums and an Avatar-inspired DJ booth. Nooky wore a beautiful silver dress with silver embroidery while Gautam wore a blue tuxedo and both complemented each other perfectly. Nooky and Gautam kicked off the occasion with a touching first dance, with friends and family members giving heartfelt speeches soon after.

You can also watch this lovely couple’s entire nuptial journey in the video below:

The Dream Team

Groom’s Outfits: Sarab Kanijou (Mehndi, Wedding, Reception), Kunal Dieu (Sangeet)

Bride’s Outfits: Elisha Wadwah (Mehndil), Dolly J (Sangeet), Shyamal and Bhumika (Wedding), Junne Couture (Reception)

Makeup and Hairstylist: Prana and Herman, Jakarta

Mehendi: HENNA BY IMA HABSYI, Jakarta